Animist Beliefs of Westphalians in Gran Albionne
Animist Beliefs of Westphalians in Gran Albionne The Spirits All things of this world have their own spirituality, as they were born from the divine couple. Therefore, the relationship between the natural environment of this world and people is that of blood kin, like the bond between brother and sister. An agricultural society based on cultivation, like that of Westphalia, cannot exist without unification and harmony among all things in nature: mountains, rivers, the sun, rain, animals, and plants, not to mention cooperation among people. So, it was natural that people developed the idea that they could make their society flourish only when they worked together, fully performing their own role, but at the same time, helping and supporting each other. This gave rise to the practice of revering various Spirits, the land, nature, great people, and, on top of that, the spirit of appreciation of harmony among all these aspects of Nature The Children of Spirits The land, its nature, and all creatures including mortals are children of Spirits. Accordingly, all things existing in the world have the possibility of becoming Spirits. Nevertheless, revered status as Spirits is limited to those that live quite extraordinary lives beyond mortal wisdom or power and that have a profound influence, for good or ill, on mortal beings. As to natural elements or phenomena that have such enormous power, there exist Spirits of Rain, Spirits of River, Spirits of Thunder, Spirits of Wind, Spirits of Mountain, Spirits of Ocean. All these Spirits are involved in the life of Westphalian society. Speaking with reverence toward Spirits of Mountains started with people’s awareness of mountains as an important source of water for agricultural cultivation. Then, people came to regard the mountain itself as a life-giving, sacred object. This mountain faith prepared the way not only for the preservation of mountain forests but also for conservation of the cycle of the ecosystem, given the fact that mountain forests supply rich nutrition to seas through the rivers, and support good inshore fishing. In ancient times, reverence toward a holy mountain-spirit was expressed by paying respect directly to the mountain itself. Now there are temples, or a compound of buildings, where the spirit dwells, and people worship by performing a festival to offer prayers and gifts of sacrifice to Spirits in these Temples. Festivals for Nature There are many kinds of ritual performed in each locality throughout the year. Large or small, these Rituals are mostly based on the agricultural cycle. Two of the most important festivals each year are the spring festival, a festival to pray for a rich harvest, and the autumn festival, a festival to offer thanks for the successful harvest. People of each locality have been carrying out these festivals every year since ancient times. In this sense, it can be said that our faith consists of reverence and gratitude to the land, its nature, and the life that these natural elements give to mortal beings. With the reverence of Spirits spontaneously developing in the way of life of the ancient Westphalian. It had neither written dogma nor a teaching book, but people revering numerous powerful spirits. In Westphalia, the Spirit Lords with a trinary female form, the queen-sisters Gloriana, Valoria and Titania, are revered most highly among them. Yet, each Spirits has an individual character to which people offer their worship, believing in that as the virtue of each Spirits. Tenets of the Faith Spiritually, Westphalians regard the land and its environment as children of Spirits. In other words, the people see nature as the divinity itself. Spirits are the origin of all lives, and the life of all things is deeply connected to them. This leads to an awareness of the sacredness of life and an appreciation for life given by the Spirits. From ancient times, Westphalian people have faced nature and invisible existence with awe and appreciation. And they used to have a principle: “to return the thing given to the mortal as a gift of nature to its original place.” This circulation system of Westphalian society functioned very well. Through the prosperity of the blessings bestowed upon them by the Spritis, rose the development of modern guilds and mercantilism, the level of Westphalian life was elevated in material terms, and now people enjoy lives mostly free of want, due to their constant reflection upon and fealty to, their patron spirits. The Westphalian spirituality, inherited from the ancient ancestors, has been lovingly preserved. The mortals of the present living with the same appreciation for nature that their ancient ancestors had and taught their descendants. Westphalian culture teaches its people to look at their environment with the spirit of “reverence and gratitude,” that is, with the spirit of parental care for children or with the spirit of brotherhood. They extend this spirit to their neighbors, to their society members, to their country members, to peoples of the Great Races, and to nature, too, transcending differences of thought, ethics, and religion, then this spirit will serve to foster criteria and morals indispensable for keeping our mortal life healthy.